Probably the number one question we get. Somebody sees a stain on the ceiling, or a shingle rips off in a windstorm, and the first thing out of their mouth is “am I looking at a quick patch job or a whole new roof.” Honestly, it depends, but there are some things that make it pretty obvious once you know what to look for.
First thing we ask ourselves is how old the roof actually is. Under 10 years, it’s probably a repair — one bad seal, one spot where a branch came down, that kind of thing. Once you get up past 15-20 years though, the whole roof is aging at the same rate, not just the one section you happened to notice. So you patch that one spot, feel good about it, and then three months later a different area starts leaking because really the whole thing was already on its way out. We see this constantly — people who’ve paid for two or three “small repairs” over a couple years and at some point you’re just spending the replacement money in installments without getting a new roof out of it.
If you don’t know how old yours is, don’t sweat it, most people don’t. We can usually ballpark it just from the shingle style and how it’s wearing.
Next thing — is the problem in one spot, or is it everywhere? A missing shingle, a leak around one vent pipe, that’s localized and it’s a repair. But if we get up there and shingles are curling or cracking across the whole roof, or there’s granule loss everywhere instead of just one patch, that’s the roof failing as a whole system. Patching one corner of that doesn’t really buy you much.
Honestly the biggest thing people don’t think about is what’s happening underneath the shingles. The decking can be rotting away while the shingles on top still look okay-ish from the ground. That’s why we actually get up there and check it instead of doing a driveway estimate — flashing around chimneys and skylights especially, since that’s where leaks almost always start, plus attic ventilation, because a roof that isn’t ventilated right just cooks itself from the inside and ages way faster than it should.
Quick side note since we handle a lot of skylights — if your roof’s fine everywhere else but the skylight’s leaking, that’s usually just the seal or flashing around it, not your whole roof falling apart. People jump to the worst conclusion sometimes and it’s really a contained fix.
If you genuinely can’t tell which one you’re dealing with, that’s normal, that’s what we’re here for. We’ll get up there, check the attic if we can get to it, and just tell you straight — repair it, replace it, or it’s fine for now and here’s what to watch. We’re not going to push a full replacement on you if a repair actually does the job.
Give us a call, (614) 918-0018, or hit us up through the site and we’ll get you scheduled.